Japan to Propose Plan on Technology, Funding to Fight Climate Change
Japan’s Environment Minister has said that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will reveal a plan aimed at supporting developing nations in technology and funding to combat climate change at a UN meeting scheduled this week.
Sakihito Ozawa, the minister, while speaking ahead of Hatoyama’s US trip, said that Japan would work towards its own bold targets to cut green house gas emissions by outlining the economic rewards of shifting to clean energy to convince firms which are cautious of initial costs.
“The ‘Hatoyama Initiative’ will be announced at the United Nations, and everyone should have high hopes for this,” Ozawa told reporters.
Earlier this month, Hatoyama said that the initiative would give financial and technological support to developing countries which are working proactively to lessen emissions, but had not clarified what funds or the sort of technology would be provided.
It is expected that Japan’s government, which took office last week, is aiming to play a bigger negotiating role in UN-backed talks in December for a new agreement on reducing emissions to replace the Kyoto Protocol, the first phase of which ends in 2012.
The talks have run into deadlock on issues such as sharing out curbs on greenhouse gases among rich and poor nations, and raising funds to help developing countries tackle global warming.
Ozawa declined to elaborate on the new scheme for developing countries, but hoped it would be an incentive for big emerging economies such as China and India to join a new climate agreement.
